Coral Beauty w/ Ich

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Lagger

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 23, 2005
Messages
148
Location
Orange County, CA
Acquired a Coral Beauty juvenile over the weekend and was anxious to get him in the tank. My mistake. No visible signs of Ich so I gave him an overnight bath in my QT bucket w/half dose coppersafe as a preventative measure. I usually QT all new arrivasl for at least 5 days.

So I acclimate him to the tank and intially he seemed fine. He started to establish his territory and pick algae from the rocks. It wasn't until day 2 that I noticed he was trying to ich himself against the rocks. I have since taken him out and have him back in QT w/ full dose coppersafe.

My question has to do with my other fish. Should they be treated for ich after being exposed to it for 1 day only? Or are they safe? Again, there are no visible signs of ich, even on the angel. However his behavior says different.

My parameters are:
Trates - 10ppm
Trites - 0
Ammonia - 0
Ph - 8.5
SG- 1.022

Thanks in advance
 
If thats all the evidence that you have is that was scratching on a rock it might not be ick. It could be ick also. The only way to know is if you see white spots like grains of salt on him. But you should QT all fish a couple weeks. No meds are nessesary unless you see ick . Dont be impatient putting them in main tank.
 
Yep, behavior is all. I think it's a precursor to ick, or ich. No visible white spots, which I've seen before and should be clearly visible given it's dark purple background.

About the main tank, I forget, do you raise the temp to 86 deg or lower the temp for SW to kill ick? I know freshwater you raise the temp.
 
Lagger said:
About the main tank, I forget, do you raise the temp to 86 deg or lower the temp for SW to kill ick? I know freshwater you raise the temp.
Do neither, leave the temp as it is. Lowering/raising temps will only affect the speed in which the parasite reproduces, it will have no impact on the parasites demise in any way.

As for your QT practices, minimum 4 weeks before they go in the main tank. 5 days is not nearly enough for proper observation time. If you consider the life cycles of some parasites, they can be easily unseen in such a short time.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for the advice Steve. I'll leave the temp as is.

I also agree 5 days is not enough. Although I'm kinda worried about the angel right now because it is not eating. There is no algae in the QT for it to graze on either. I've soaked it's food in garlic and it still wont eat. Im afraid if I leave it in QT for 4 weeks it'll die of malnurishment.
 
Coral beauty's usually aren't that picky an eater IME. Keep trying to feed it a variety of foods....frozen, flake, etc.

The QT practice has already been touched upon so I won't comment.
 
Any suggestions?

I've tried flake, pellets, freeze dried brine and krill, frozen mysis and bloodworms, and seaweed. All with no success. Granted the angel hasn't had time to feel comfortable enough in the tank to stick his head out and eat. But he did seem interested.
 
Any suggestions?

I've tried flake, pellets, freeze dried brine and krill, frozen mysis and bloodworms, and seaweed. All with no success. Granted the angel hasn't had time to feel comfortable enough in the tank to stick his head out and eat. But he did seem interested.
 
When I have had problems in the past with fish eating in QT I will mix some frozen cyclopeeze with mysis or brine and they usually can not resist. Plan on water change afterwards as the cyclopeeze can foul water if to much is used. Add selcon or similar HTH
 
Brenden said:
When I have had problems in the past with fish eating in QT I will mix some frozen cyclopeeze with mysis or brine and they usually can not resist. Plan on water change afterwards as the cyclopeeze can foul water if to much is used. Add selcon or similar HTH

i cant resist it either.... yummy stuff... no really i agree, no fish has passed up on my cyclop-eeze
 
mykpoz said:
Brenden said:
When I have had problems in the past with fish eating in QT I will mix some frozen cyclopeeze with mysis or brine and they usually can not resist. Plan on water change afterwards as the cyclopeeze can foul water if to much is used. Add selcon or similar HTH

i cant resist it either.... yummy stuff... no really i agree, no fish has passed up on my cyclop-eeze

Where do I get this stuff? Never seen it before.
 
I got it at the LFS. liveaquaria and marinedepot carry it but you will pay a premium for overnight shipping. I would just call all the local places and ask if they have it.
 
Try what's mentioned above plus add some vitamin B12 to the water (vita chem or Zoe). You'd be amazed what that can do. Lowering salinity towards hypo levels (16 ppt) can also help as it alleviates shipping stress and helps the fish regain osmotic balance. You may as well just do the treatment to be on the safe side anyway.

Keep stress factors to a minimum. No overhead light. Plenty of places for the fish to hide. Low ambient room light and reduced "passby" traffic. Avoid the urge to alway be looking in the tank and so on. The more you can do in that direction, the faster the fish will settle in.

Cheers
Steve
 
you can get freeze dried cyclop-eeze (it is what i use) and the fish still love it... i just let it soak with the food for a good 20-30 min or longer when using selcon... also makes a nice liquid to shoot at some of your corals ;)
 
Update:

I've noticed the fish has lost some color, particulary on top of his head. He's not completly pale, but he's not deep purple like he used to be either. He's been in low light and in good water conditions.

Could this be attributed to not eating?
 
Yes, as could water quality and stress.

Have you begun any treatment and what are the exact water quality numbers including pH?

Cheers
Steve
 
He has been in QT since Sunday running Coppersafe. I put him back in the main tank last night because I was afraid he wouldn't last much longer in QT, so he could eat off the rocks, and because there wasn't any visible ick on him. He seems to be doing better and color has improved along his back, but his head area has came back fully yet. I'm keeping on eye on him and so far so good.
 
Moving the fish back to the main was not the best idea. As for the color loss, the copper was most likely the culprit. Angels like this do not tolerate it that well and you should really try to use Cupramine when copper is necessary for these types of sensitive species. As I suggested above, hyposalinity is the treatment of choice for this type of ailment and specifically for this species.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for your opinion steve-s. I do appreciate it.

The angel, after being in the main tank for 2 days now, is looking 100% better. All color has been restored and it's been picking at the rocks like mad. I still haven't seen the angel actually "eat" yet, but at least I know it's getting some nutrition off the rocks. No sign of ick has showed up yet, but if it does, I'll definitaly try the hyposalinity treatment.

Thanks
 
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